Image of the Day: A Swell Idea

To improve the resolution of biological samples at the cellular level, researchers inflate tissues with “swellable polymers” so that they’re easier to see under the microscope.

Written byThe Scientist
| 1 min read

Register for free to listen to this article
Listen with Speechify
0:00
1:00
Share

Enlarged breast cancer tissueOCTAVIAN BUCUR/LUDWIG INSTITUTE FOR CANCER RESEARCH In a study published this week (July 17) in Nature Biotechnology, Harvard and MIT scientists inflated human tissue samples of kidney minimal change disease and precancerous breast lesions to better visualize these pathologies using a technique called expansion microscopy.

"We can apply this method to any type of clinical sample and all types of human tissues, including normal and cancerous tissues," says MIT scientist and co-lead author Yongxin Zhao of MIT in a news release.

See Y. Zhao et al., “Nanoscale imaging of clinical specimens using pathology-optimized expansion microscopy,” Nature Biotechnology, doi:10.1038/nbt.3892, 2017.

Interested in reading more?

Become a Member of

The Scientist Logo
Receive full access to more than 35 years of archives, as well as TS Digest, digital editions of The Scientist, feature stories, and much more!
Already a member? Login Here
Illustration of a developing fetus surrounded by a clear fluid with a subtle yellow tinge, representing amniotic fluid.
January 2026

What Is the Amniotic Fluid Composed of?

The liquid world of fetal development provides a rich source of nutrition and protection tailored to meet the needs of the growing fetus.

View this Issue
Human-Relevant In Vitro Models Enable Predictive Drug Discovery

Advancing Drug Discovery with Complex Human In Vitro Models

Stemcell Technologies
Redefining Immunology Through Advanced Technologies

Redefining Immunology Through Advanced Technologies

Ensuring Regulatory Compliance in AAV Manufacturing with Analytical Ultracentrifugation

Ensuring Regulatory Compliance in AAV Manufacturing with Analytical Ultracentrifugation

Beckman Coulter Logo
Skip the Wait for Protein Stability Data with Aunty

Skip the Wait for Protein Stability Data with Aunty

Unchained Labs

Products

Sino Biological Logo

Sino Biological's Launch of SwiftFluo® TR-FRET Kits Pioneers a New Era in High-Throughout Kinase Inhibitor Screening

SPT Labtech Logo

SPT Labtech enables automated Twist Bioscience NGS library preparation workflows on SPT's firefly platform

nuclera logo

Nuclera eProtein Discovery System installed at leading Universities in Taiwan

Brandtech Logo

BRANDTECH Scientific Introduces the Transferpette® pro Micropipette: A New Twist on Comfort and Control